Ava DuVernay responds to Quentin Tarantino’s Selma comments

Ava DuVernay has responded to Quentin Tarantino’s diss of her civil rights drama Selma in an interview he gave last month.

While speaking to author Bret Easton Ellis for The New York Times’ T Magazine, Tarantino addressed Selma being snubbed at this year’s Oscars. “She did a really good job on Selma but Selma deserved an Emmy,” he said, hinting that the film resembled a made-for-TV movie. Tarantino later clarified that he had never seen Selma. His remark, along with other comments he made about race and how “black critics” respond to his films, drew criticism.

DuVernay, for her part, says she wasn’t as surprised by Tarantino’s comments as others were. “I was surprised by how surprised everyone was. When you look at his work and his persona, there’s nothing surprising about what he said,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “But it didn’t bother me like so many assumed it would.”

DuVernay is working on an upcoming TV series titled Queen Sugarfor Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network, which she’s set to write, direct, and executive produce. Tarantino’s latest effort, The Hateful Eight, opens in limited release on Christmas Day before going into wide release in January.